JOB-HUNTERS in Wales are among the least snobbish in the UK when it comes to choosing where they work, new research shows.

Only people in the North of England ranked lower in the snobbishness stakes.

Less than a quarter of people in Wales say peer pressure has an impact on their choice of job, compared to a third of Londoners who say the views of friends and family influence them when choosing where they work.

Nearly half of people in Wales said they would accept an offer to work in a fast-food organisation with good career prospects - whereas in London three in four said they would reject such an offer.

The findings come as a new report from The Work Foundation says that scorn for service sector jobs threatens the UK economy.

It reveals that jobs at the supermarket check out or behind the counter at a quick service restaurant - which are often looked down on - are providing communication and teamwork skills.

It shows that the service sector boasts some of the most cutting edge training programmes in the UK today.

Andy Westwood, head of policy research at The Work Foundation said, "Jamie Oliver was rightly applauded when we watched him work incredibly hard to develop his trainee chefs - so why aren't the same plaudits given to companies who do the same on a much greater scale?

"There are unsung `heavy lifters' at work in the UK economy - employers like Mc-Donald's and Asda - who dig deepest into some of the country's most difficult and marginalized labour markets and that simultaneously boast some of the most far reaching development programmes.

"The UK seems to have a blind spot towards these leaders who take vast numbers of people from little or no skills to high skills.

"On the eve of the Government's Skills Strategy, it is clear that we can all learn from the way the service sector approaches training and development.

"The value of these skills and their training programmes is high. If we continue undermining them, the battle to narrow the UK's productivity gap will become much harder."

Only 24% of those in Wales said they were influenced by the views of friends and family when it came to choosing where they worked - compared to 34% in London.

Moreover, 46% said they would take a job in the quick service restaurant sector with good career prospects, compared with 37% for the UK and 26% in London.